Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus.

²But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

³Then Jesus told them this parable:

⁴“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?

⁵And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders

⁶and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’

⁷I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

⁸“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?

⁹And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’

¹⁰In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

¹¹Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons.

¹²The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

¹³“Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.

¹⁴After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need.

¹⁵So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs.

¹⁶He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

¹⁷“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!

¹⁸I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.

¹⁹I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’

²⁰So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

²¹“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

²²“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.

²³Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate.

²⁴For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

²⁵“Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing.

²⁶So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on.

²⁷‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

²⁸“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him.

²⁹But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.

³⁰But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

³¹“ ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.

³²But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ ”

¹Joseph threw himself on his father and wept over him and kissed him.

²Then Joseph directed the physicians in his service to embalm his father Israel. So the physicians embalmed him,

³taking a full forty days, for that was the time required for embalming. And the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.

⁴When the days of mourning had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh’s court, “If I have found favor in your eyes, speak to Pharaoh for me. Tell him,

⁵‘My father made me swear an oath and said, “I am about to die; bury me in the tomb I dug for myself in the land of Canaan.” Now let me go up and bury my father; then I will return.’ ”

⁶Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear to do.”

⁷So Joseph went up to bury his father. All Pharaoh’s officials accompanied him—the dignitaries of his court and all the dignitaries of Egypt—

⁸besides all the members of Joseph’s household and his brothers and those belonging to his father’s household. Only their children and their flocks and herds were left in Goshen.

⁹Chariots and horsemen also went up with him. It was a very large company.

¹⁰When they reached the threshing floor of Atad, near the Jordan, they lamented loudly and bitterly; and there Joseph observed a seven-day period of mourning for his father.

¹¹When the Canaanites who lived there saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “The Egyptians are holding a solemn ceremony of mourning.” That is why that place near the Jordan is called Abel Mizraim.

¹²So Jacob’s sons did as he had commanded them:

¹³They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre, which Abraham had bought along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite.

¹⁴After burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, together with his brothers and all the others who had gone with him to bury his father.

¹⁵When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?”

¹⁶So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died:

¹⁷‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept.

¹⁸His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said.

¹⁹But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God?

²⁰You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

²¹So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.

²²Joseph stayed in Egypt, along with all his father’s family. He lived a hundred and ten years

²³and saw the third generation of Ephraim’s children. Also the children of Makir son of Manasseh were placed at birth on Joseph’s knees.

²⁴Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

²⁵And Joseph made the Israelites swear an oath and said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place.”

²⁶So Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten. And after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.

¹What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision?

²Much in every way! First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God.

³What if some were unfaithful? Will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness?

⁴Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.”

⁵But if our unrighteousness brings out God’s righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.)

⁶Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world?

⁷Someone might argue, “If my falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?”

⁸Why not say—as some slanderously claim that we say—“Let us do evil that good may result”? Their condemnation is just!

⁹What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin.

¹⁰As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one;

¹¹there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.

¹²All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”

¹³“Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The poison of vipers is on their lips.”

¹⁴“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”

¹⁵“Their feet are swift to shed blood;

¹⁶ruin and misery mark their ways,

¹⁷and the way of peace they do not know.”

¹⁸“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

¹⁹Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.

²⁰Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.

²¹But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.

²²This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile,

²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

²⁴and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

²⁵God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—

²⁶he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

²⁷Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith.

²⁸For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.

²⁹Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too,

³⁰since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.

³¹Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.

¹The elder, To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.

²Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.

³It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it.

⁴I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

⁵Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters, even though they are strangers to you.

⁶They have told the church about your love. Please send them on their way in a manner that honors God.

⁷It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans.

⁸We ought therefore to show hospitality to such people so that we may work together for the truth.

⁹I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us.

¹⁰So when I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us. Not satisfied with that, he even refuses to welcome other believers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.

¹¹Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.

¹²Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone—and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.

¹³I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink.

¹⁴I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face. Peace to you. The friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name.

¹So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them.

²All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not. As it is with the good, so with the sinful; as it is with those who take oaths, so with those who are afraid to take them.

³This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead.

⁴Anyone who is among the living has hope—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!

⁵For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even their name is forgotten.

⁶Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun.

⁷Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do.

⁸Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil.

⁹Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun.

¹⁰Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.

¹¹I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.

¹²Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so people are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them.

¹³I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom that greatly impressed me:

¹⁴There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siege works against it.

¹⁵Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man.

¹⁶So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded.

¹⁷The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts of a ruler of fools.

¹⁸Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.

¹Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm. A song. He has founded his city on the holy mountain.

²The LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the other dwellings of Jacob.

³Glorious things are said of you, city of God:

⁴“I will record Rahab and Babylon among those who acknowledge me— Philistia too, and Tyre, along with Cush— and will say, ‘This one was born in Zion.’ ”

⁵Indeed, of Zion it will be said, “This one and that one were born in her, and the Most High himself will establish her.”

⁶The LORD will write in the register of the peoples: “This one was born in Zion.”

⁷As they make music they will sing, “All my fountains are in you.”

¹Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise.

²A king’s wrath strikes terror like the roar of a lion; those who anger him forfeit their lives.

³It is to one’s honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel.

⁴Sluggards do not plow in season; so at harvest time they look but find nothing.

⁵The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out.

⁶Many claim to have unfailing love, but a faithful person who can find?

⁷The righteous lead blameless lives; blessed are their children after them.

⁸When a king sits on his throne to judge, he winnows out all evil with his eyes.

⁹Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin”?

¹⁰Differing weights and differing measures— the LORD detests them both.

¹¹Even small children are known by their actions, so is their conduct really pure and upright?

¹²Ears that hear and eyes that see— the LORD has made them both.

¹³Do not love sleep or you will grow poor; stay awake and you will have food to spare.

¹⁴“It’s no good, it’s no good!” says the buyer— then goes off and boasts about the purchase.

¹⁵Gold there is, and rubies in abundance, but lips that speak knowledge are a rare jewel.

¹⁶Take the garment of one who puts up security for a stranger; hold it in pledge if it is done for an outsider.

¹⁷Food gained by fraud tastes sweet, but one ends up with a mouth full of gravel.

¹⁸Plans are established by seeking advice; so if you wage war, obtain guidance.

¹⁹A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid anyone who talks too much.

²⁰If someone curses their father or mother, their lamp will be snuffed out in pitch darkness.

²¹An inheritance claimed too soon will not be blessed at the end.

²²Do not say, “I’ll pay you back for this wrong!” Wait for the LORD, and he will avenge you.

²³The LORD detests differing weights, and dishonest scales do not please him.

²⁴A person’s steps are directed by the LORD. How then can anyone understand their own way?

²⁵It is a trap to dedicate something rashly and only later to consider one’s vows.

²⁶A wise king winnows out the wicked; he drives the threshing wheel over them.

²⁷The human spirit is the lamp of the LORD that sheds light on one’s inmost being.

²⁸Love and faithfulness keep a king safe; through love his throne is made secure.

²⁹The glory of young men is their strength, gray hair the splendor of the old.

³⁰Blows and wounds scrub away evil, and beatings purge the inmost being.

¹Now the leaders of the people settled in Jerusalem. The rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of every ten of them to live in Jerusalem, the holy city, while the remaining nine were to stay in their own towns.

²The people commended all who volunteered to live in Jerusalem.

³These are the provincial leaders who settled in Jerusalem (now some Israelites, priests, Levites, temple servants and descendants of Solomon’s servants lived in the towns of Judah, each on their own property in the various towns,

⁴while other people from both Judah and Benjamin lived in Jerusalem): From the descendants of Judah: Athaiah son of Uzziah, the son of Zechariah, the son of Amariah, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahalalel, a descendant of Perez;

⁵and Maaseiah son of Baruch, the son of Kol-Hozeh, the son of Hazaiah, the son of Adaiah, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zechariah, a descendant of Shelah.

⁶The descendants of Perez who lived in Jerusalem totaled 468 men of standing.

⁷From the descendants of Benjamin: Sallu son of Meshullam, the son of Joed, the son of Pedaiah, the son of Kolaiah, the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ithiel, the son of Jeshaiah,

⁸and his followers, Gabbai and Sallai—928 men.

⁹Joel son of Zikri was their chief officer, and Judah son of Hassenuah was over the New Quarter of the city.

¹⁰From the priests: Jedaiah; the son of Joiarib; Jakin;

¹¹Seraiah son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the official in charge of the house of God,

¹²and their associates, who carried on work for the temple—822 men; Adaiah son of Jeroham, the son of Pelaliah, the son of Amzi, the son of Zechariah, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malkijah,

¹³and his associates, who were heads of families—242 men; Amashsai son of Azarel, the son of Ahzai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer,

¹⁴and his associates, who were men of standing—128. Their chief officer was Zabdiel son of Haggedolim.

¹⁵From the Levites: Shemaiah son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni;

¹⁶Shabbethai and Jozabad, two of the heads of the Levites, who had charge of the outside work of the house of God;

¹⁷Mattaniah son of Mika, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, the director who led in thanksgiving and prayer; Bakbukiah, second among his associates; and Abda son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun.

¹⁸The Levites in the holy city totaled 284.

¹⁹The gatekeepers: Akkub, Talmon and their associates, who kept watch at the gates—172 men.

²⁰The rest of the Israelites, with the priests and Levites, were in all the towns of Judah, each on their ancestral property.

²¹The temple servants lived on the hill of Ophel, and Ziha and Gishpa were in charge of them.

²²The chief officer of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Mika. Uzzi was one of Asaph’s descendants, who were the musicians responsible for the service of the house of God.

²³The musicians were under the king’s orders, which regulated their daily activity.

²⁴Pethahiah son of Meshezabel, one of the descendants of Zerah son of Judah, was the king’s agent in all affairs relating to the people.

²⁵As for the villages with their fields, some of the people of Judah lived in Kiriath Arba and its surrounding settlements, in Dibon and its settlements, in Jekabzeel and its villages,

²⁶in Jeshua, in Moladah, in Beth Pelet,

²⁷in Hazar Shual, in Beersheba and its settlements,

²⁸in Ziklag, in Mekonah and its settlements,

²⁹in En Rimmon, in Zorah, in Jarmuth,

³⁰Zanoah, Adullam and their villages, in Lachish and its fields, and in Azekah and its settlements. So they were living all the way from Beersheba to the Valley of Hinnom.

³¹The descendants of the Benjamites from Geba lived in Mikmash, Aija, Bethel and its settlements,

³²in Anathoth, Nob and Ananiah,

³³in Hazor, Ramah and Gittaim,

³⁴in Hadid, Zeboim and Neballat,

³⁵in Lod and Ono, and in Ge Harashim.

³⁶Some of the divisions of the Levites of Judah settled in Benjamin.

¹I looked again, and there before me was a flying scroll.

²He asked me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a flying scroll, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide.”

³And he said to me, “This is the curse that is going out over the whole land; for according to what it says on one side, every thief will be banished, and according to what it says on the other, everyone who swears falsely will be banished.

⁴The LORD Almighty declares, ‘I will send it out, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of anyone who swears falsely by my name. It will remain in that house and destroy it completely, both its timbers and its stones.’ ”

⁵Then the angel who was speaking to me came forward and said to me, “Look up and see what is appearing.”

⁶I asked, “What is it?” He replied, “It is a basket.” And he added, “This is the iniquity of the people throughout the land.”

⁷Then the cover of lead was raised, and there in the basket sat a woman!

⁸He said, “This is wickedness,” and he pushed her back into the basket and pushed its lead cover down on it.

⁹Then I looked up—and there before me were two women, with the wind in their wings! They had wings like those of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between heaven and earth.

¹⁰“Where are they taking the basket?” I asked the angel who was speaking to me.

¹¹He replied, “To the country of Babylonia to build a house for it. When the house is ready, the basket will be set there in its place.”

¹Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul.

²While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

³So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

⁴The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus.

⁵When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper.

⁶They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus,

⁷who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God.

⁸But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.

⁹Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said,

¹⁰“You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?

¹¹Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

¹²When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

¹³From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem.

¹⁴From Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath they entered the synagogue and sat down.

¹⁵After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have a word of exhortation for the people, please speak.”

¹⁶Standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and said: “Fellow Israelites and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me!

¹⁷The God of the people of Israel chose our ancestors; he made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt; with mighty power he led them out of that country;

¹⁸for about forty years he endured their conduct in the wilderness;

¹⁹and he overthrew seven nations in Canaan, giving their land to his people as their inheritance.

²⁰All this took about 450 years. “After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet.

²¹Then the people asked for a king, and he gave them Saul son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years.

²²After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’

²³“From this man’s descendants God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as he promised.

²⁴Before the coming of Jesus, John preached repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel.

²⁵As John was completing his work, he said: ‘Who do you suppose I am? I am not the one you are looking for. But there is one coming after me whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’

²⁶“Fellow children of Abraham and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent.

²⁷The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath.

²⁸Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed.

²⁹When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb.

³⁰But God raised him from the dead,

³¹and for many days he was seen by those who had traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to our people.

³²“We tell you the good news: What God promised our ancestors

³³he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: “ ‘You are my son; today I have become your father.’

³⁴God raised him from the dead so that he will never be subject to decay. As God has said, “ ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.’

³⁵So it is also stated elsewhere: “ ‘You will not let your holy one see decay.’

³⁶“Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed.

³⁷But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay.

³⁸“Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.

³⁹Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses.

⁴⁰Take care that what the prophets have said does not happen to you:

⁴¹“ ‘Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish, for I am going to do something in your days that you would never believe, even if someone told you.’”

⁴²As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath.

⁴³When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.

⁴⁴On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.

⁴⁵When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy. They began to contradict what Paul was saying and heaped abuse on him.

⁴⁶Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.

⁴⁷For this is what the Lord has commanded us: “ ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”

⁴⁸When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.

⁴⁹The word of the Lord spread through the whole region.

⁵⁰But the Jewish leaders incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region.

⁵¹So they shook the dust off their feet as a warning to them and went to Iconium.

⁵²And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.